Brian Regan

But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks? Tis the absence of the stormy Fay.

Hooray! Tropical Storm Fay has left the building! Though I will not be quick to celebrate--what was Tropical Depression Seven last night has this morning become Hurricane Gustav.

For those who aren't familiar with the cycle, storms that we call hurricanes start in the Atlantic Ocean, far away from Florida. A concentration of thunderstorms is called a Tropical Depression; should it become more organized with sustained winds of 39-73 mph, it is promoted to a Tropical Storm and given a name. The same storm, with just one mile faster wind speed, is a hurricane.

We are in the hurricane season.

One has only to watch NASA's satellite videos to see how massive and powerful hurricanes and tropical storms are (even TS Fay encompassed Florida as she lollygagged over it). Though weather forecasters predict many more named storms (meaning organized cyclones with sustained winds of 39-73 mph), I pray the season will be gentle to all of us and the small islands south of here.

First off, thank you to everyone who entered the contest and to Rena, the brave soul who posted first and Travis, who expressed interest in the gator jerky. The poems were marvelous!

I wrote the names down, cut them up, and put them in a bowl, whereupon my beloved and handsome son pulled out the name of the winner. Except he pulled out two. So then we had to have a tie-breaker, which involved putting the names through all sorts of obstacle courses.

The winner of the Violet Raines goodie bag is BRENDA!

Brenda, come on down! Behind door number one is a bobble alligator, a strip of gator jerky, and a hardcover copy of Violet Raines Almost Got Struck by Lightning. You are the winner! Email your address to me so you can start enjoying your prizes as soon as possible. (My email is listed at the bottom of this post.) Let us know how you enjoy that gator tail!

We didn't think it was fair that two names got pulled out at the same time, so we have a second winner: JUDY, come on down! A hardcover copy of Violet Raines awaits you behind door number two. Send me your address and the book will be on its way.

And my small assistant wanted a boy to win. TRAVIS, come on down! My assistant liked your poem and your picture and the fact that you are male. Behind door number three, a copy of Violet Raines has been hand-selected just for you. Just email me your address. (My assistant says he hopes you are happy that you've won a book.)

Congratulations to the winners! And thank you to everyone who entered the contest. Your encouragement and interest means a lot to me. Here's my email address: danette at danettehaworth dot com. If you have trouble with that, contact me through my website or PM me through Verla Kay's.

Please enter my giveaway! Just leave me a comment with Violet's name in it. This contest ends Friday, August 15th at midnight or whenever I wake up on Saturday and say so. Check in Saturday to see if you need to email me your address!

I'm enjoying a nice day at the springs, trying to look nonchalant while all the time scanning the river for alligators when S yells, "Look!" I don't see anything at first, but then I notice a slight wake and its lizardy source.

"Get the camera!" I shout. "Run!"

He runs one direction and I run across the bridge to the floating dock. That stubborn gator is paddling out of a corner where I'd just been sitting looking for him. Lucky for me, a guy on the floating deck is fishing. Mr. Gator appears to have some interest in the lure.

S walks over (not following orders) and shoves the camera into my hands. I'm poised, ready. I've been waiting a long time for this shot.

"NOW!" S yells. "Take it NOW!"

"I'm trying," I say.

"NOW!"

I put the motor drive on and try to follow Mr. Gator. Word's gotten out, and a bunch of kids and adults pound down the dock, causing it to bob in the water. Since I'm standing on the edge with my eye against the camera, the dock feels like a ship in high seas and I'm almost woman overboard.

Mr. Gator slips under some weeds. Ha! As if we'd forget. Some people canoe right over him. "There's an alligator under you!" we yell.

"Where? Where?" They lose their rhythm for a moment, paddle in circles. When they don't see anything, they seem to decide we're joking and they dip their oars lazily, slowly floating away.

After a few minutes, the gator emerges in all of his crocodilian glory, spiky back and all.

"Now! NOW!"

I fire off a bunch of shots; I got him good now. Like a submarine, he slips underwater and disappears. We leave the dock. I am happy, because the first picture I took when I got here was this:

A Whole Lot of Lucky

me & jack

The Summer of Moonlight Secrets

Violet

Scholastic Book Trailer for Violet Raines

Thoughts on Writing

"If the doctor told me I had six minutes to live, I'd type a little faster." --Isaac Asimov

"It took me fifteen years to discover I had no talent for writing, but I couldn't give it up, because by that time I was too famous." --Robert Benchley

"When writers meet, they are truculent, indifferent, or over-polite. Then comes the inevitable moment. A shows B that he has read something of B's. Will B show A? If not, then A hates B; if yes, then all is well." --Cyril Connolly"Yes, it's hard to write, but it's harder not to." --Carl Van Doren

"Writing is easy. All you do is stare at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead." --Gene Fowler"I always write a good first line, but I have trouble writing the others." --MoliFre

"What no wife of a writer can ever understand is that a writer is working when he's staring out of the window." --Burton Rascoe

"Writing is the only thing that, when I do it, I don't feel I should be doing something else." --Gloria Steinem

"I love being a writer; what I can't stand is the paperwork." --Peter De Vries

"This morning I took out a comma and this afternoon I put it back in again." --Oscar Wilde"I will tell you a story." --Jesus (Matthew 21:28, CEV)